Trending: Joint Injections

Joint injections puzzle me. I've seen them administered to aging sport horses whose hock joints don't function as fluidly as they once did. I've heard trainers order them for show horses who perform chronically "late" lead changes. And I've even seen a veterinarian prescribe them for a young horse with a head-scratching lameness just to "see what it would do."

Done properly, joint injections can be very effective for prolonging horse's athletic careers.

Photo: Courtesy Dr. Harry Werner

But how do we know when a horse really needs an injection? The easy and obvious answer, says sport horse specialist Mark Revenaugh, DVM, lead treating veterinarian for the United States event team and owner of Equine Performance in Oregon, is that the horse is lame, a nerve block to numb the joint pinpoints the problem, and a decision is made as to whether an injection is the best course of treatment. However, he's observed that joint injections are standard nowadays in otherwise sound, competing horses simply because "if done properly it can be very effective (for protecting joints)."

I, too, have found that it's now commonplace to show up at the barn and find a horse cross-tied and sedated, with a veterinarian intern scrubbing away at a stifle or hock with that familiar rust-colored Betadine antiseptic solution. A practitioner then puts a gloved finger on the precise point of the joint she's injecting, depresses the plunger, and hands a several-hundred-dollar invoice to the trainer or horse owner. In the hunter/jumper world, it's almost more difficult to find a horse that hasn't received this intra-articular treatment than one that has.

As Dr. Revenaugh explained it to me, if you have inflammation in a joint, enzymes in the joint fluid are degrading the cartilage. "It's like driving your car with old motor oil and not enough of it," he said. "If you liken it to that, then you're a fool not to do what you can to keep the joint fluid good. If the horse has an inflammatory process going on in the joint and does not have a screaming injury, generally speaking, treating the joint is going to promote longevity for the horse's career."

So yes, injecting show horses' joints to protect and maintain them can have beneficial effects. Good news for me, as almost all my horses have "been injected"--some of them multiple times a year--at certain points throughout their careers. This not to say, however, that this treatment is a quick fix or without consequences. It's further complicated by the fact that veterinarians have an increasing number of medications to choose from.

"The downside is that a lot of horse people have become overly reliant (on joint injections) rather than just looking at their programs," Dr. Revenaugh says. "Are they riding the horse too much or jumping him too high? This is where it gets complicated."

He likens the sport horse industry's joint injection trends to a swinging pendulum: "Initially you would only treat a joint if there was a dire need for it," he explains. "Then the pendulum swung and you could treat horses that weren't in dire need for it. In my opinion, the industry went too far--it was treating everything all the time. I think the pendulum is kind of swinging back now and people are trying to be a bit more accurate about what really needs to be done and when."

So, moral of the story, joint injections are still an intricate and highly individualized therapy. I'm sure my trainer and veterinarian will recommend my mare have her hocks injected while we have some downtime this winter, just as they did last winter, and I'll pay that extra money to help keep her performing at her best.

How frequently do you inject your horse's joints, if at all, and what are your thoughts on the matter?

About the Author

Alexandra

Alexandra Beckstett, Managing Editor of The Horse and a native of Houston, Texas, is a lifelong horse owner who has shown successfully on the national hunter/jumper circuit and dabbled in hunter breeding.

Comments

The views expressed in the posts and comments of this blog do not necessarily reflect those of The Horse or Blood-Horse Publications. They should be understood as the personal opinions of the author. All readers are encouraged to leave comments; all points of view are welcome, but comments that are discourteous and/or off-topic may be removed.

I have twice had the stifle of a 29 year old mare injected, she had a lot of arthritis and calcification (the size of a walnut) at the site and was having difficulty rising. The injections seemed to help her mobility for 6 - 8 months.

I have a 12 yr. old mare who had some inflamation in a hind leg tendon sheath and flex tests and a nerve block indicated that she perhaps also had some arthritic issues occurring. I was talked into injecting the fetlock to give her some relief and let the joint "quiet down". In hindsight, I would have opted to give her a few weeks before making that decision (she was not lame on the leg and the inflamation did go away prior to treatment). I saw that the fluid in her joint was syrup like, not under a lot of pressure, no trace of blood etc., and having seen horses injected that had poor quality and discolored joint fluid etc., was relieved to see that my mare had healthy joints in comparison.

pat

01 Oct 2013 6:20 PM

Hi Pat, glad to see you've found some success with this treatment.

On another note, I witnessed my first sacroiliac injection last week. I was not prepared to see four ten-inch, 12-gauge needles stuck into the horse's pelvis!

Alexandra

04 Oct 2013 2:41 PM

Vets have gone overboard on injecting practically every moving part! They don't talk about the complications of this...joint infections that could END your horse's career, slowing down the body's own natural secretion of synovial fluid (why make it if it's provided artificially), the effects of steroids in joints, side effects of sedation for the joint injections. Back up and ask why...then seek alternative, natural solutions before grabbing the needle.

Melissa

07 Oct 2013 8:28 PM

My 20 yr old Quarter Horse mare had lymes and is becoming very arthitic. She is not a show horse, just a well broke, kind mare that loves children. I had plans to put her to rest but I can't as she looks great, eats great, just slow and very stiff. I have checked into supplements for her and now my vets wife says we should inject her joints. After reading this, I'm ordering a proven supplement and not cause her any more stress with injections.

Deborah

09 Oct 2013 2:40 PM

Deborah, we have had great results treating our arthritic seniors with Equivoxx/ or equivalent. Suggest you ask your vet about this option.

KAREN

27 Oct 2013 1:14 AM

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